Call for councils to 'come clean' about who they're selling your personal data to

Pressure group says North Wales authorities need to be more open about what they do with your information held on electoral roll

by Jez Hemming

09:00, 9 Sep 2017Updated15:03, 8 Sep 2017

North Wales councils need to “come clean” about to whom they are selling people’s data, an elections watchdog has said.

The Electoral Reform Society, which campaigns for open and fair democracy, hit out at the authorities’ refusal to say to whom and how often information from the electoral roll was being sold.

The Daily Post submitted Freedom of Information requests to each of the six councils. Only one council, Conwy, gave any details of the sale of the records.

Three others said because management of elections is done by the chief executive in a “personal” capacity, the information could not be disclosed. Two others didn’t respond at all.

But anyone who wants to buy the information has to apply to the council to get it, and Conwy council confirmed in its response that it had “sold” electoral roll information in the past.

The Electoral Reform Society said the councils should be more open about what happens to people’s personal data.

Darren Hughes, from the Society, said: “The primary purpose of the electoral roll is to support democracy – and seeking to make a quick buck from that undermines faith in the process. At the very least voters should know who their information is being sold to – and at what price.

“Whatever the case, the democratic price of not knowing is much larger than the profit the council is making off the back of this.

“While the information on the electoral roll helps with people’s credit ratings, selling on to secret commercial interests with no scrutiny is playing with fire.

Read More

“The councils – and all others across the UK – should come clean about these basic facts, both on principle and out of respect for transparency.”

Wrexham, Ynys Mon and Flintshire declined to say how many times the roll had been sold and to whom, citing the Representation of the People Act 1983, and saying “the Electoral Registration Officer’s responsibilities and duties are personal”.

They added: “The Freedom of Information Act does not list any person appointed under the Representation of the People Act 1983, thus the Electoral Registration Officer, Returning Officer or any other person appointed under the act are not subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.”

When an election is held, a returning officer is appointed to oversee it. The returning officer is almost always a local authority chief executive. But he or she is paid for undertaking these duties directly by central government.

North Wales councils have been urged to come clean about who they sell electoral roll data to(Image: PA Wire)

Anyone can buy a copy of the information on the Open Register by applying to the council.

Electoral roll information is in the charge by the county’s electoral registration officer (appointed by the local authority) and it is councils who administer, receive payment and dispatch this information.

The chief executive of each North Wales administration also acts as the returning officer, who oversees the electoral process for national, county council and community council elections.

The full electoral roll can be viewed at council offices but can only be purchased by authorised bodies, such as credit reference agencies and government departments.

Read More

Residents can opt out of the Open Register when they give their information to councils, or by writing to the electoral services department of their local authority, which means their details cannot then be sold on.

Conwy was the only council to answer, saying it didn’t sell entire copies of the register, but individual polling districts.

The council added: “In 2013/2014 (we sold) three polling districts register, equalling £69.00. In 2014/2015 four polling district registers (£79.50). In 2015/2016 none. None were sold to marketing companies.”